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Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 19 January 2021 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Hoyland, Thomas and Psychogios, Alexandros and Epitropaki, Olga and Damiani, Jonathan and Mukhuty, Sumona and Priestnall, Chris (2021) 'A two-nation investigation of leadership self-perceptions and motivation to lead in early adulthood: The moderating role of gender and socio-economic status.', Leadership and organization development journal., 42 (2). pp. 289-315. Further information on publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-03-2020-0112 Publisher's copyright statement: This article is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial International Licence 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0) and any reuse must be in accordance with the terms outlined by the licence. 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Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk A two-nation investigation of Leadership Self-perceptions and Motivation to Lead in early adulthood: The moderating role of Gender and Socio-Economic Status Dr. Thomas Hoyland University of Hull [email protected] Prof. Alexandros Psychogios Birmingham City University & Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) [email protected] Prof. Olga Epitropaki Durham University [email protected] Dr. Jonathan Damiani Nagoya University of Commerce & Business [email protected] Dr Sumona Mukhuty Manchester Metropolitan University [email protected] Chris Preistnall University of Hull [email protected] Paper accepted for publication in the Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 1 Abstract Purpose: Drawing on social-cognitive and motivational literature of leadership, the present study examines the influence of young adults’ self-perceptions of leadership on their leadership self-efficacy and motivation to lead in their future career. We further examine gender and socio-economic status (SES) as important moderators of the proposed relationships. Design/methodology/approach: The present investigation consists of a two-study research design, based on data collected from young adult samples across two culturally different countries, namely UK (N=267) and Japan (N=127). Findings: The study presents evidence of self-perceptions of leadership influencing leadership self-efficacy and motivation to lead. The results further support the mediating role of leader self-efficacy. Regarding the moderating role of gender, results in both samples showed that the effects of leader-self efficacy on motivation to lead were stronger for males. Socio-economic status was found to moderate the effects of leadership self-perceptions of negative ILTs on leadership self-efficacy in the UK sample and the effects of leadership self-perceptions of positive ILTs on leadership self-efficacy in the Japanese sample. Originality: This study fills the gap of empirical research focused on early adulthood influences on leadership development. In particular, this study has a three-fold contribution, by, firstly, developing a conceptual model that examines the role of young adults’ self- perceptions of leadership on their self-efficacy as leaders and motivation-to-lead; secondly examining contingencies of the proposed relationships; and thirdly testing the conceptual model in two countries. Keywords: Young Adults, Implicit Leadership Theories, Leadership Self-efficacy, Motivation to Lead, Gender, Socio-Economic Status. Article Type: Research Paper 1. Introduction 2 There has been growing interest in understanding what motivates individuals to actively pursue and engage in leadership (e.g., Bergner, Kanape & Rybnicek, 2018; Chan & Drasgow, 2001; Epitropaki, 2018; Kark & Van Dijk, 2007). The emergence and effectiveness of leaders is widely recognised as a complex relationship between individuals and context but what motivates young people to engage in leadership requires further investigation. Surprisingly, only a few studies have explored the developmental roots of leadership in terms of the role of adolescent experiences and socio-economic status (Oliver et al., 2011; Popper & Mayseless, 2007) as well as the motivation to lead of young adults (Glasford, 2008; Jenni, 2017). Scholars have acknowledged the importance of parental influences on children’s leadership development and have examined precursors such as attachment styles (e.g., Keller, 2003), authoritative parenting (e.g., Kudo et al., 2012) and parental standards of achievement (e.g., Avolio & Gibbons, 1988). There is, however, limited emphasis on other family context characteristics such as socio-economic status (SES), despite the great number of studies in developmental psychology that have shown the psychological impact of perceived socially ascribed roles and childhood background on shaping adult outcomes (Roberts, 2009). Thus, there is a need to explore further the factors influencing young adults’ motivation to lead. The emphasis on young adults is a response to the call for additional research on the early precursors to adult leadership (e.g., Li et al., 2011; Murphy & Johnson, 2011; Riggio & Mumford, 2011). We specifically focus on emerging adults (Arnet, 2004) aged 17-24. Understanding motivation to lead as well as perceptions of leadership in young people is pertinent for several reasons. Firstly, it has been suggested that demographic changes are bringing about a “war on talent” (Michaels et al, 2001), meaning younger generations are expected to take on leadership roles earlier in their career life. Secondly, emerging adulthood has been identified as a critical juncture in human life development due to the degree of experimentation in roles, responsibilities and commitments they engage in. Further at this stage 3 psychological and physiological changes are taking place, which are still very sensitive to environmental conditions that may influence adaptive capabilities (Tanner & Arnett, 2009). For example, the recent global experience of working remotely due to Covid-19 and the use of new technologies can contributed to a dynamic and challenging working environment, where especially young people may be able to adjust faster. Thirdly, reports suggest that barriers persist for women and individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds achieving leadership positions, many of these barriers emerging early in life (Barling & Weatherhead, 2016). Finally, we believe that examining the development of motivation to lead and its antecedents so early in a person’s career stage, i.e., during the liminal space between formal education and the world of work, is critical for developing timely developmental interventions. In other words, as individuals begin to enter the world of work, the salience of their implicit leadership theories (ILTs), referring to their expectations and assumptions about leaders’ characteristics, skills and qualities that influence leadership self-perceptions (Lord, Foti, & De Vader, 1984), could be a key factor in shaping their drive towards engaging in leadership development experiences (Dooley & Prause, 1997; Popper & Mayseless, 2007). Having the ambition to fill the gap of empirical research focused on early adulthood influences on leadership development, our study aims at examining the impact of both individual (such as gender and implicit leadership theories) and family context (i.e., socio-economic status) characteristics on leadership perceptions and motivation to lead. In particular, using a two- study cross-cultural research design and data from young adult samples from the UK and Japan, our paper contributes to knowledge by: First, developing a conceptual model that examines the role of young adults’ self-perceptions of leadership on their self-efficacy as leaders and subsequent motivation-to-lead in future work contexts; second, examining important contingencies of the proposed relationships including family environment characteristics such as socio-economic status and the individuals’ gender; and third, testing our conceptual model 4 in two countries with fundamental value differences, i.e., UK (high individualism) and Japan (high collectivism), we provide a more nuanced perspective on the generalisability of the proposed relationships in different cultural contexts. 2. Theoretical development and hypotheses 2.1. Self-perceptions of leadership Self-perceptions, such as positive self-concepts, have been consistently linked with leadership (e.g., Bray et al., 2014; Darya, Hannes & Day, 2017; Epitropaki & Martin, 2005; Lord & Maher, 1991; Resick et al., 2009). Some researchers have especially highlighted the role of individuals’ self-perceptions against leadership prototypes or implicit leadership theories (ILTs) as an important element of leader categorization processes (Bray et al., 2014; Van Quaquebeke, Van Knippenberg a&Brodbeck, 2011). Recently, Lord, Epitropaki, Foti